Panasonic's SC-BT100 Blu-ray home-theater in a box made a sly appearance back at CES, but today we got up all in its face. The Blu-ray soul is basically Panny's BD-30 player (with the added mojo of the BD-50's Chroma processor). Rear speakers are wireless and produce virtual 7.1 sound, though you can add on two more for true 7.1. Supposedly the subwoofer is magically designed to reduce hissing with quiet rumblings—we certainly didn't notice any in the demo, but we heard smooth, cheesy jazz and the 18-wheeler/F-18 scene from Justin Long's fake Die Hard movie, so it was hard to gauge its effectiveness on the front. The sound certainly wasn't bad though—it'll go for $999 in late spring. Closeups and fact sheet below.

to the original movie. UniPhier® reflects the advanced encoding and authoring technologies developed by Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory (PHL) in collaboration with film industry professionals. With UniPhier® at its heart, the SC-BT100 provides a level of image and sound quality that meets Hollywood's stringent demands - so you experience movies just the way they were meant to be experienced.

*UniPhier is a trademark/a registered trade mark of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. in Japan and other countries.

PHL Reference Chroma Processor

The PHL Reference Chroma Processor up-samples (4:2:0 to 4:2:2) the color information in decoded video signals. Using unique Panasonic technology, this innovative circuit faithfully reproduces the fine details and nuances of Blu-ray video streams that have been recorded with high quality image compression system. It generates images with all the clarity and depth that BD-Video movies have to offer.

P4HD (Pixel Precision Progressive Processing for HD)

P4HD processes more than 15 billion pixels per second and applies the optimal processing to every pixel. So that it can render progressive images superbly, expresses motion smoothly, and draws crisp diagonal lines.

Deep Color

The SC-BT100 is Deep Color ready, which means they can reproduce images with 12-bit, 4,096-step gradation. You enjoy exceptionally rich, natural-looking colors, with smooth, detailed gradation and minimal color banding.

*The TV must also be Deep Color compatible. Other TVs will display 8-bit, 256-step grada

1080/24p Playback

The SC-BT100 provides 1080/24p output. It reproduces movie images from a Blu-ray Disc in their original 24p form, with no need for conversion. You see movies in the same format used in movie theaters.

*24p stands for 24 frame/sec.

*1080/ 24p supported TV is required

Premium Sound Quality

Kelton Subwoofer

Thanks to a Kelton subwoofer, the SC-BT100 outputs deep, thunderous bass sounds that make viewing Blu-ray Discs a truly awesome entertainment experience. The Kelton subwoofer has two internal chambers. A drive unit mounted in the rear chamber vibrates the front chamber, causing a large, 10-inch Passive Radiator in the front chamber to vibrate and produce bass sounds. Because the front chamber functions as an acoustic filter, there is minimal unwanted noise. The thinness and high compliance of the passive radiator help achieve an extremely clean, powerful and responsive bass sound.

Bamboo Diaphragm Speaker

Use of rigid, low-density bamboo in the woofer and tweeter cones of the center and front speakers helps achieve a highly responsive sound. This system reproduces sounds from sources in high definition audio formats of Blu-ray disc with stunning clarity and fidelity.

Bamboo Paper

Sound Velocity (m/s) 2380 1900

Specific gravity 0.37 0.40

Vertical Symmetrical Configuration

The SC-BT100's front and center speakers feature a vertical symmetrical configuration, with the tweeter in the center and the woofers arranged directly above and below it. The sound seems to emanate from a single point. This reproduces a sound so clear and transparent that when you're listening to an orchestra, for example, you can easily pinpoint the location of each instrument.

Whisper- mode Surround

In the past, when you were watching a movie late at night with the volume turned down, the surround effect would be lost. Not with Whisper-Mode Surround. It compensates for the sound pressure level of the low-frequency component (which contains the signals that affect the surround effect), so you're enveloped in a rich surround sound even when watching movies at low volume.

Compatible for New All Audio Codec*

The SC-BT100 is compatible with the newest Dolby®TrueHD and DTS-HD™ 7.1-channel surround sound formats. Sit back and enjoy the incredibly rich, clear and faithful surround sound these high-data formats make possible.

New Medial Friendly

Integrated Universal Dock for iPod®

Just slip your iPod® into the built-in cradle and enjoy. With the BD theater system's awesome picture and sound quality, you'll love listening to the music and watching the images on your iPod®. There are no iPod® or USB cables to connect, so it's super easy and your room stays tidy and uncluttered.

iPod® Music / Video Capability

iPod® Music Playback and iPod® On-Screen Display for Music Menu

Panasonic's BD theater is a great way to listen to the music on your iPod®. The list of songs on your iPod® can be displayed on the TV screen, and you can use the remote control from the home theater or a VIERA TV to select and play them.

iPod® Video Playback

Use the iPod's screen to select a video, then sit back and enjoy awesome large-screen viewing and thunderous surround sound.

Connect a set-top box to your BD theater with an optical audio cable, and you can view cable programs and other content on your large-screen TV, while enjoying 5.1-channel surround sound.

*The video output of the set-top box must be connected to the TV, and the set-top box must be connected to the SC-BT100 via an optical audio cable.

HD Networking with SD Memory Card

Linking with an HD Camcorder

The SC-BT100 can play back AVCHD-format images shot with an HD camcorder, such as the Panasonic HDC-SD9. Images recorded onto the camcorder's SD Memory Card are output directly from the SC-BT100's HDMI terminals in their original, high-quality 1920 x 1080 resolution. The SC-BT100 also provides an AVCHD Direct Navigator function that makes it easy to search for particular scenes.

Linking with a Digital Camera

The SC-BT100 can play back JPEG still images on an SD Memory Card, such as those recorded with a Lumix DMC-FX55 digital camera. The SC-BT100 can output the images to 1920 x 1080 resolution - ideal for a full-HD TV - and output them via the HDMI terminal* Using the Slideshow playback feature, you can play a music CD at the same time you're showing the photos, so viewers enjoy both beautiful images and your favorite music.

*JPEG and other still image sources converted to 1920 x 1080 resolution, while of high quality, will exhibit somewhat lower subjective image resolution than true, native 1080p full HD sources.

Easy to Use & Set-Up with VIERA LinkTM

New Seamless GUI

As the types of media continue to increase, the VIERA LinkTM capability continues to evolve. The newly enhanced VIERA LinkTM displays a menu on the TV screen, making it easier to operate the connected equipment. For example, you can display a menu with a list of the movies or music stored on your iPod®, and use the VIERA remote control unit to select one and begin playback.

Auto Theater Setup

When you connect your BD theater system to a VIERA TV via an HDMI cable, the TV settings (menu language, aspect ratio, and so on) are automatically loaded into the home theater system. This saves you the trouble of making those settings manually.

・VIERA LinkTM is a new name for EZ SyncTM.

・Not All 2008 VIERA LinkTM features are compatible with all 2006/2007 EZ SyncTM products.

Blu-ray Global Site

http://panasonic.net/blu-ray/

Blu-ray DiscTM Home Theater Sound System

SC-BT100

1. Premium Sound Quality with Full Audio Codec for Blu-ray Disc

2. High Quality Picture with Full-HD 1080p and Premium Live Experience for 7.1ch Surround with 5 Speakers